Item: A Song to Drown Rivers
Rating: 4
Author: Catherine

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
Published by St. Martin's Press
Publication date: October 1, 2024
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Cultural, Fantasy

Bookshop, Amazon

There is a Chinese folk tale about four sisters so beautiful they could be denied nothing. One of those sisters is Xishi and in Ann Liang’s novel, A Song to Drown Rivers, she is called upon to use her beauty for vengeance and destruction.

For Xishi, growing up in a tiny village in the Yue kingdom, her beauty is auspicious for her parents as it means she may be married off to a wealthy man, saving them from a life of poverty. But such a future has been forgotten in the aftermath of war lost against the Wu, a neighboring kingdom. For Xishi any personal happiness is impossible after seeing the murder of her younger sister at the hands of the invaders. When Fanli, a Yue military advisor, chooses her as a tribute concubine to be sent to the new king in order to spy on him, she willingly accepts in the hopes of avenging her sister’s death.

Weaponizing Xishi’s looks is the easy part of Fanli’s plan, but as a common villager she has no hope of attracting and sustaining any king’s attention. While she can read, she has no knowledge or understanding of court etiquette, much less seduction. It’s here that A Song to Drown Rivers flowers, much in the way Xishi herself will. She secretly leaves her home, going with Fanli to a remote cottage where she undergoes exhaustive training for weeks to fulfill her role. Every single aspect of her being must be remade. Only her beauty remains untouched.

For readers who don’t indulge in fiction set in the ancient far east this might seem extreme, but royals have always been royals and the courts of China’s kingdoms in the 5^th century bce were highly stylized. Every expression, motion, even the colors worn were open to interpretation as an insult. Retribution was immediate death. Xishi must hide every vestige of emotion and her true thoughts beneath a facade of serene, supreme loveliness. These details heighten the tension that arises during her time with Fuchai, the Wu king. Suddenly, Xishi must use all her skills to circumvent the other women who want his ear, while not betraying her real intentions to the battle-hardened advisors who have every reason to distrust her.

Given that this is a novel involving high-stakes espionage the action in the story would seem to be more important than the prose and yet, that’s not the case. Liang writes with a fluidity and grace that mirrors Xishi’s transformation. She grows from being a child in her understanding of the world to a woman being forced to choose. The nuance applied made A Song to Drown Rivers a fascinating excursion into another world.

This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Amazon.com which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).